Tattooing vocabulary

[js6426]

Hey guys, I am looking for some vocabulary relating to tattooing.  So far I just have the terms for RL, RS and M needles.  If anyone could translate these for me, and if you have anything that may be useful that isn't on my list then that would be massively appreciated too!  Also I realize that a few of these would be easy to grab from the dictionary, but I am just putting them in for confirmation, and so that I have a nice comprehensive list.  Thanks in advance!

 

Shading

Whip shading

Fill

Outline (noun and verb if possible)

Grip

Disposable tip

Reusable tip

Stencil

Needle depth

Skin trauma (in the sense of 'don't work an area of skin too long or you will traumatize it')

Aftercare

Pick (as in, don't pick at the scab that forms)

Scab

Scarring

Tune (as in, to tune a machine)

Clip cord

To sterilize

Apprentice

Sketch

Portfolio

Diamond tip needles

Puddling?  (Don't know the correct term for this in English, but when you get a big puddle of ink following the needle along the skin)

Blowout

Traditional (style of tattoo, and not traditional Chinese tattoos, but the style in general)

Tribal

Design

Creative

Cross-contamination

Blood borne pathogen

Cling film

Infection

Swelling

Hourly rate

 

 

[somethingfunny]

I don't know what a lot of these mean in English, but I am interested in why you need this.  Are you a tattoo artist yourself?  Do you have a large number of Chinese clients?

[js6426]

Fair question!  No I'm not really an artist, I just started learning.  But I like tattoos and recently made friends with a couple of Chinese artists who have a shop just down the road from me, and after hanging out with them for a bit they have offered to teach me some stuff for free.  That's pretty cool, although actually I just like hanging out with them, and of course it's more exposure to the language.  However, being as they don't speak English, most of these terms will help me a ton if they teach me!  They get a lot of Chinese clients, I have seen far more Chinese in there than foreigners.  I don't know if it's a new change in the culture or what, but there are a lot of young people getting tattoos in very visible places.  I haven't been in China for long but in Cambodia girls with tattoos basically meant they were 'bad', not sure if the same thought prevails here, but I am definitely surprised at how many young Chinese girls I have seen getting tattoos on their hands!  I'd definitely be interested to hear about the cultural aspect of tattoos if you or anyone has any insights!

[Lu]

On 10/11/2017 at 12:13 PM, js6426 said:

I like tattoos and recently made friends with a couple of Chinese artists who have a shop just down the road from me, and after hanging out with them for a bit they have offered to teach me some stuff for free.  That's pretty cool, although actually I just like hanging out with them, and of course it's more exposure to the language.

In that case, can't you ask them? Quite a number of the words on your list are things you (or they) can point at, and that would get you the information straight from the horse's mouth.

 

I don't know what it is with the hand tattoos either. In the Netherlands, and I suspect in a lot of western countries, the hands would be one of the last places you'd get a tattoo, but I saw finger tattoos on a lot of young women in Taiwan ten years ago already.

[js6426]

I can indeed, and certainly plan to, I just thought if there is anyone who knows for certain it would be a much safer bet, especially with things like 'blood borne pathogen' hah!

 

For sure, a lot of places won't even do tattoos on the hand.  In fact even here in Harbin, at what I think must be the biggest tattoo place (and certainly the most expensive) there is, they won't do hands/fingers.  It's the same in England, a lot of jobs would be closed off to you if you had tattoos on the hands.